That was enough for the Rockets to hold on through a tense final 10 seconds and take a 3-1 series lead with an 89-88 win over the Trail Blazers at Toyota Center.

“He’s just incredible,” coach Rick Adelman said of Hayes and his game-saving play with 10.7 seconds left. “The guy doesn’t play hardly the whole game (he played four minutes), and I put him in there when the game is on the line, and he sees that coming.

“I’ve seen him do that so many times. He’s so quick. He’s so smart defensively. He just got there. That’s Chuck.”

Roy scored 31 points, making all 13 of his free throws as the Blazers went 17-for-17 from the line. But he did not dispute that Hayes beat him to the spot.

“If he was outside the line, it was a charge,” Roy said. “I just tried to get into the paint and get some contact. I saw him at the last minute.”

If the game-winning moment was typical, the rest of the fourth quarter represented a huge and vital departure from the Rockets’ formula, at least in recent games.

The Blazers had come back from 11-point first-half and eight-point third-quarter deficits to lead 77-71 three minutes into the fourth quarter. More troubling for the Rockets than the six-point hole, however, was the way the offense had been breaking down. With Portland still fronting Yao Ming but usually bringing the double team from the perimeter rather than with the power forward, the Rockets did not get the open looks that carried them to 51.4 percent shooting in the first three games.

Yao takes over

Yao, however, had put Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden in foul trouble. And with the Blazers playing behind him, he went to work. He scored eight of his 21 points in the next two minutes, taking the Rockets to a 79-72 lead and giving them a renewed sense that they could win late.

“Getting Yao the ball in that position to score is huge for us,” guard Kyle Lowry said. “It settles us down, gets us a little more confidence.”

Roy immediately went to work, scoring on a three-point play through a Battier foul and a 3-pointer over Ron Artest. But Battier — who had 14 points, eight rebounds and a career playoff-high six assists — nailed consecutive 3s. The second made it 85-83 and put the Rockets up for good.

Both 3s were on second shots, the other key improvement in the Rockets’ play. Though they had rebounded well in the series, the Rockets had 10 offensive boards in the fourth quarter against the NBA’s No. 1 rebounding team and finished with a season-high 28 second-chance points.

“It’s been a focus the whole series,” Adelman said. “We know we are going to be undersized, but it’s one thing when they are putting so much pressure on Yao that we should get to the offensive boards.”

When that pressure on Yao left Carl Landry open for a 20-footer, the Rockets had a four-point lead with 2½ minutes left.

Landry, however, fouled LaMarcus Aldridge, and Aldridge (19 points) hit both free throws to pull the Blazers to 87-85. The Rockets could not build on the lead, with Lowry turning the ball over, Artest missing a 3 and Landry missing a tough runner.

Instead, the Rockets had to get the win with defense. Enter Chuck Hayes.

No real surprise

There was little doubt the game was going to come down to Roy and the Rockets’ ability to stop him. Travis Outlaw set a screen. Battier switched. Hayes came over. And the three met with the game on the line.

“I think everybody in the building knew Brandon was going to take the last shot of the game,” Battier said. “He was going to try to draw a foul and get to the rack. Chuck did a fantastic job sliding over and getting under him. It was a huge play by Chuck.

“I think I did (have the shot blocked), but Chuck gets the credit for it.”

When Lowry intentionally missed his second free throw with 1.2 seconds left and the Rockets up by one, Roy was 75 feet farther out than he had been 10 seconds earlier. He also was out of time, and the Rockets had a commanding lead in the series.